Savannah-Chatham GMAS scores focus of state targets

Monday

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is the exam the state Department of Education will use to measure academic achievement in Savannah-Chatham County public schools for the next four years.

The state Board of Education approved updated school performance requirements for SCCPSS at its Feb. 21 meeting that are based on the revised College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) formula. That formula uses the Georgia Milestones Assessment System and other measures, such as attendance and graduation rates.

Georgia expects most schools to increase their CCRPI scores by 3 percent of the gap between the 2017-18 CCRPI score and 100 each year for the next four years. The GMAS is administered at the end of the school year for students in kindergarten through eighth grade and two or more times a year for high school students.

SCCPSS has expanded its use of a second assessment program, called the MAP Growth, starting in the kindergarten year, according to data and accountability administrators. This computer-adaptive test provides teachers with information on the content students need more instruction on, but the state Department of Education does not consider MAP scores in the CCRPI.

MAP growth

The district researched the MAP before deciding to use it, Joseph Austin, executive director of accountability, assessment and reporting, said last month. “It’s not the only tool but it is one we do find valuable. We don’t place all of our emphasis on that tool,” he said.

“Teachers are getting this in the beginning, middle and end of the year to plan instruction,” Austin said. By testing students early in the school year, teachers can spot areas where students need more instruction.

The decision to use MAP “was a collaborative effort,” Austin said. “Principals were involved. Several leaders of the district were involved. It was not a random decision that was done by a single entity.”

While the GMAS carries all the weight with the state, it is not a national assessment, and some school board members have requested a national exam.

As a “strategic waiver” school district, Savannah-Chatham County has flexibility in school enrollment assignments, promotion and retention criteria, teacher salaries and length of the school day, among other factors, but it must meet certain state targets through 2020-21, including growth on the GMAS, according to state Department of Education documents.

Because the state revised the 2018 CCRPI program and stated the scores were not comparable with previous years, the state Board of Education updated the contract for strategic waiver districts at its last meeting.

Georgia targets

For schools performing in the top 25 percent of the state within each grade cluster, the state expects schools to remain in the top quartile established in 2017-18.

Schools that fail to meet the target CCRPI score can meet the yearly performance target using the “beating the odds” criteria, which compares the school’s CCRPI score to its expected performance determined by considering how other similar-scoring schools have performed.

Included in the strategic waiver contract was an outline of “consequences” the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement could impose.

If a “nonperforming” school has not met the articulated academic goals on schedule, a school improvement plan to address the deficiencies must be submitted to Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The office can apply “consequences” in 2022-23 if the school fails to meet performance goals based on a review of 2020-21 performance data, with the state Board of Education’s approval.

The new requirements, which adjust the base year CCRPI to 2018, come a few months after an expert organization analyzed Georgia’s educational system and praised the state’s focus on school improvement plans but said Georgia could do better in capacity-building and assisting schools over the long term in sustaining improved academic performance.

Long-term goals

The Collaborative for Student Success and HCM Strategists researched public school systems in 17 states for the “Promise to Practice” report. There’s “more the state can do to help districts … to make sure they can do all the state expects them to do,” said Scott Sargrad, managing director for K-12 education policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., who analyzed Georgia for the “Promise to Practice” report in 2018.

Sargrad encouraged Georgia to “really think about the long term on this, how you’re going to build the capacity of the district to really engage in this work, not just over the next year or two but the next five to 10 years,” he said in an interview in December.

The state revised the CCRPI criteria last year to reduce the number of components, but it continues to focus on the Georgia Milestones Assessment System and student progress on the assessment from one year to the next.

Sargrad said the state shouldn’t focus on a single measurement when determining whether a school is improving. “It’s important to look at a wide degree of measures that parents and teachers care about,” he said. “It does tell you about how much students are learning. It shouldn’t be discounted. It just shouldn’t be the only measure.”

The CCRPI considers factors other than GMAS scores, such as attendance, participation in career education and graduation rates for high schools, but the GMAS does affect a school’s performance more than other categories. For more information on the CCRPI criteria, see the Nov. 16 article on achievement gaps in the Savannah Morning News at bit.ly/2PAGWuN.

According to the strategic waiver contract the state Board of Education approved Feb. 21, if a “nonperforming” school has not met the articulated academic goals, a school improvement plan to address the deficiencies must be submitted to Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The office can apply “consequences” in 2022-23 if the school fails to meet performance goals based on a review of 2020-21 performance data, with the state Board of Education’s approval.

Turnaround program

For low-performing schools, Georgia steps in to monitor schools and ensure they are complying with the law. The state named East Broad K-8, Hubert Middle, Mercer Middle, Myers Middle and the School of Humanities at Juliette Gordon Low Elementary to the 2018-19 Comprehensive Support and Improvement list this past November.

The Comprehensive Support and Improvement program is a Tier III comprehensive intervention where the schools on the list receive "intensive supports" from the state, according to the Georgia Department of Education. It is one step above the Tier IV Turnaround Schools list, where schools receive support from the state's chief turnaround officer. The Governor's Office of Student Achievement determines the list of turnaround-eligible schools.

The 2018 list of turnaround-eligible schools includes seven in Savannah-Chatham County: DeRenne Middle, East Broad K-8, Hubert Middle, Mercer Middle, Myers Middle and the School of Humanities at Juliette Gordon Low. Hubert and Mercer already were in the turnaround program, school administrators said at a fall school board meeting.

Under the revised Department of Education’s criteria for the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) for strategic waiver districts, which is the basis for its list of turnaround or Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools, Georgia expects individual schools to increase their CCRPI scores by 3 percent of the gap between the 2017-18 CCRPI score and 100 each year for the next four years.

For schools performing in the top 25 percent of the state within each grade cluster, they are expected to remain in the top quartile established in 2017-18.

Schools that fail to meet the target CCRPI score can meet the yearly performance target using the “beating the odds” criteria, which compares the school’s CCRPI score to its expected performance determined by considering how other similar-scoring schools have performed.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.